Jack Bennett

“Dagas Mannaz” (Awakening and Emotion) 
7 Portraits; 9” x 12”, 2020

How could one create the sense of empathy through art? With the series “Dagas Mannaz” I have created something that reflects myself and reflects empathy with emotions. Some, like myself, struggle to recognize emotion or create empathy. The project simulates the seven emotions that humans can easily detect in seven portraits. Anger, happiness, disgust, sadness, contempt, fear, and surprise. The seven portraits are of people who I care about most.

My inspirations are Alex Grey, a psychedelic artist, and Chuck Close, a famous portraiture. I wanted to create my own portraits in a psychedelic form. All portraits are created with blocked shapes that represent different shades of the human structure. Each portrait also portrays different colors that symbolize towards their specific emotion.

I have also interpreted specific runes into their eyes to replace their pupils. The runes symbolize the emotion in each portrait. The runes come from the Nordic Elder Futhark language, and with the nords, their culture was heavily influenced by a great journey to Vahalla, the Heavens in their world. Having these symbols represent the journey of emotions one goes through in their lives.

While viewing, I wanted the audiences to connect with the portraits in their own emotional way. Someone may feel closer to one portrait than the other and thus creating the concept of empathy with it. Maybe that one person has experienced that emotion in life more than the others and that connection is exactly what I wanted to create with my work